Coming Home
by ImagineDragons2323
Summary: Leo returns to Camp Half Blood with Calypso but finds that he was gone longer than expected. And while he was gone a new threat had been gaining power and is now rising. And Leo is part of yet another prophecy. The son of Hephaestus just can't get a break/Boo spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

**LEO'S MORNING STARTED **with him hurtling out of the sky.

He knew falling asleep would be a bad idea, but Calypso had insisted and it was hard to argue with her. So, he leaned back into her and closed his eyes. He didn't fall asleep immediately, but instead thought of what had happened to his friends. He had wondered this ever since he and Calypso had left Ogygia. He had no idea how long he had been dead on Festus's back, searching for the island. The journey back seemed to have only taken a few days, but that could be years in the mortal world.

He really hoped a hundred years hadn't passed since the war, and he would come back to find out his all his friends were dead. Knots of anxiety formed in his stomach as he thought about it. But, Leo knew he had no other choice. Someone would have had to die to defeat Gaea and he was the best choice, and by dying he was able to return to Ogygia and fulfil his promise to Calypso.

He didn't know when, but he drifted off to sleep some time after. His sleep was dreamless and peaceful, up until he heard the screaming.

Leo's eyes snapped opened and he soon realized that they were falling out of the sky. Déjà vu much, he thought for a moment before panic seized him and he hung on for dear life. The wind stung his eyes, but he was able to open the dragon's control panel. Everything looked fine to him, so why was Festus crashing.

"Leo!" Calypso shouted at him, her eyes wide with fear as they got closer to the ground. Leo spared a glance up, and nearly fell off the dragon. Up ahead, he saw a large tree that had something golden draped on its branches and a dragon curled up beside it. Beyond that he saw familiar strawberry fields and cabins. For a moment he forgot that Festus was falling and grinned widely. He was home. He had made it!

"LEO!" Calypso's voice startled him. He focused on the task at hand. Okay, Festus wasn't short circuiting but Leo realized that the damaged to the dragon's belly could be what was bringing them down. He thought he had fixed it, but apparently not. He couldn't fix the damage now, not while they were falling so his option would be to make sure they could land safely.

"Alright Festus, we've been through worse. All I need is a safe landing and then…we're home, buddy. You can have all the oil with tobacco sauce you want," Leo told his dragon, and Festus let out a few creaks before the dragon shuddered and stabilized somewhat.

"Good," Leo nodded and he was sure by now the campers had seen him because he heard shouting as they got closer to the camp. He hoped they wouldn't fire at him and he was tempted to shout, "We come in peace!" but he decided against that.

They hurtled towards the camp and Leo veered Festus towards the woods. The satyrs and nymphs would kill him, he was sure of it. He tried landing in a clearing but the wind stung his eyes and Festus was steaming up underneath them. "Hold on!" he called to Calypso, who had wrapped her arms around his waist. She nodded and took a deep breath as Festus skidded against the ground. They flattened a few bushes as they went, but Festus had managed to land in a clearing. The dragon jerked to a stop abruptly which threw Leo and Calypso off its back and onto the ground.

Leo's head hit something hard, probably a rock with his luck and his vision blurred. He heard voices around him and he tried to locate Calypso but his whole body ached and he couldn't even lift up his head. The last thing he remembered was familiar kaleidoscopic eyes staring down at him before everything went black.

* * *

><p>"Leo?" a voice said as someone tried to feed him something. He tasted his mother's home baked cookies and he suddenly felt much better. No so much in pain. He groaned as his eyes fluttered open and he focused on the person in front of him. It was a girl with long blonde hair and warm brown eyes, but her eyebrows were drawn together in a frown.<p>

The son of Hephaestus glanced around the room, and quickly identified it as the infirmary at camp. Camp. Oh gods, he had made it back. He had made it back! He could see his friends again and tell them he was dead and introduce Calypso to them.

"W-where's Calypso?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Oh, she's fine. Resting," the girl answered, before setting the rest of the ambrosia bar on the table and handed him some nectar which Leo quickly drained. He felt much better now. He sat up and stared at the girl, who stared back with a confused frown.

"Um, I know it must be weird to have someone crash into camp on a dragon but I'm L-"

"I know who you are," she interrupted him, and it was Leo's turn to be confused. "Uh, you're…uh…pretty famous around camp. Defeating Gaea and all that." The girl's ears turned red slightly as she cleared her throat. "I'm Jaime, daughter of Apollo."

"Oh, that-that's cool," Leo felt embarrassed. He was famous? "So, uh, where's Chiron?"

"He's calling some people back to camp."

"What people?"

Jaime paused, "The other seven," she said hesitantly.

Leo sat up straighter, "They left camp? But isn't it like summer?" He guessed it was from the amount of campers he had seen earlier.

Jaime grimaced and looked up at the sky, as if questioning her father or asking for guidance, "Well, they sort of outgrew camp."

Outgrew camp? His heart sped up. How long had he been gone for? It couldn't have been that long. It might have been a couple of years. No more than that, he told himself but he didn't believe it which led him to ask the next question. "H-How long was I gone?"

"Leo, you were gone for nearly 25 years."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I hope you like the story so far! Please make sure to review!**

**CC is appreciated but please no hate**

**I don't own PJO**

* * *

><p><strong>LEO'S HAIR <strong>burst into fire.

He stared at Jaime in shock and shook his head, while the daughter of Apollo stared at his hair with wide eyes. "No, no, no. NO! I was not gone that long!"

"Leo, you need to calm down, okay? Just-"

"This is a trick," he announced, interrupting her. She just frowned at him. "It's a trick, isn't it? They're getting back at me! Who set you up? Was it Jason? Piper? Percy? It was Hazel, wasn't it? I-"

"Leo!" Jaime stopped him, "This is not a trick! You were actually gone for 25 years! Its 2039!"

"No, no, no…no," Leo muttered again, his shoulders sagging in defeat. His hair was no longer on fire and he heard Jaime take a step towards him. He scrubbed a hand over his face.

"How is that possible? I'm still sixteen. It only felt like a few days," he said weakly.

"I believe that would be because of Ogygia's magic. Time doesn't matter there," said a familiar voice and Leo looked up to find Chiron. He looked the same as ever. Of course he was immortal, so he didn't age but the worry lines around his eyes deepened as he looked at Leo.

"Chiron, oh gods, was I actually-?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so, my boy," Chiron sighed, and then looked to Jaime. "Would you mind if I borrowed your patient, dear?"

"No, of course not Chiron," Jaime shook her head.

"Then, let's walk and I'll explain as best as I can," the centaur told Leo as the son of Hephaestus slid off his bed.

"Um, sorry about the whole hair on fire thing and the yelling," he said.

"It's okay, really," she assured him. "You should probably go now."

"Right," Leo shuffled towards Chiron, who exited the infirmary and Leo followed.

They walked towards the Big House, which looked the same as ever. The whole camp looked the same, which was why Leo had such a hard time believing he was gone that long. He saw campers playing volleyball, sword fighting and getting chased around by nature spirits. It all looked so normal, his heart ached.

The only thing that was noticeably different were the campers wearing Camp-Jupiter shirts. They were everywhere. He stared at a group of them as they passed by, laughing loudly. Chiron followed his gaze and nodded. "Yes, the two camps made peace after the war."

"Oh…cool."

"It was your sacrifice that enabled such a thing to happen, Leo," Chiron told him, probably trying to make him feel better but he didn't. The old centaur was probably going to continue but before he could a camper ran up to him.

The boy had short jet black hair, and tan skin. He was pretty tall, and lean like a swimmer. He wore a grin as he jogged towards them. "Percy?" Leo blurted out before he could stop himself, because this boy looked exactly like the son of Poseidon.

The boy turned towards him, an eyebrow raised and Leo noticed one difference. The boy had stormy grey eyes instead of Percy's sea green ones. They sized him up, as if trying to figure out which would be the best way to take him down. "No…I'm Luke. Aren't you the dude who crashed the dragon?"

"Um…yeah…I mean-"

"Luke," Chiron interrupted Leo, "I'm afraid I'm a bit pre-occupied at the moment. We shall talk later."

Luke nodded slowly, glancing at Leo once again. "Right…uh, I'll just go then." And with that the boy walked away.

"Was he a son of Poseidon?" Leo asked after a few moments of silence.

"A descendant, actually," Chiron answered, confirming Leo's suspicions.

"He's Percy and Annabeth's son, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is. They also have two daughters at camp. The others also have children at camp."

"Oh," Leo said. What else was he supposed to say? His friends had kids; they had gotten on with their lives. Leo knew he should've expected this, but it still came as a surprise to him. He still envisioned the others as teens so it was hard to believe that they had teenage children.

"So, you called them. When are they getting here?" Leo asked, before Chiron could launch into some sort of speech that would probably make him feel worse.

"Shortly. They dropped their children off just this morning, so they are all probably still in Manhattan."

Leo nodded and didn't speak again until they reached the Big House. He sat down at a chair by the ping pong table and memories of various war councils came rushing back. It felt so odd to be back.

Chiron folded himself into his wheelchair. Seymour growled slightly at Leo, but Chiron shushed the stuffed leopard and threw him a few sausages to eat.

Leo sank into his chair. He picked at his sleeve, wondering how much longer he would have to wait. He wanted to see his friends again, but was also afraid at the same time. What was he supposed to tell them? He was so lost in thought he didn't hear the door open as someone entered.

"Ah, Leo Valdez, we meet again!"

Leo's head snapped up. Apollo stood before him, looking the same he had looked when Leo had seen him. He was dressed in a Camp-Half Blood t-shirt and jeans, with a sword strapped to his belt and a quiver of arrows thrown over his shoulder.

"Oh, Lord Apollo…um, what're you doing here?"

"Are you not happy to see me?" the blond god raised an eyebrow at him, and Leo backtracked.

"Yeah! It's great to see you! How's the Valdezinator?"

"Ah, yes, you're musical device was quite the challenge! But I did master it!" the sun god exclaimed and behind him, Chiron grimaced. No doubt the god went around camp playing the Valdezinator.

"That's great and all, but seriously, what're you doing here?"

"Yes, yes. Well, after the war Zeus decided to punish me for disobeying him by sending me to this camp. He recalled Dionysus, and made me camp counsellor. I believe I make a better one, the campers seem much happier around me! Right, Chiron?"

The old centaur nodded, "Yes, they are Lord Apollo." Leo got the feeling that he was lying.

"Yes, well Dionysus was far too grumpy for a job such as this. Anyways, Leo Valdez, you have returned."

"Yup."

Apollo nodded, and exchanged a look with Chiron. Was it just him or did the two look worried all of a sudden. He didn't have time to question it, as the door swung open once again.

Leo's eyes swept over his friends.

Jason stood beside Piper, his blonde hair striked with some grey. It was barely noticeable but Leo couldn't help but stare at it for a moment. Piper looked the same, except she had worry lines around her eyes. Compared to the others, she had aged the best. Not that the others looked too old, but Piper managed to look younger. Must be an Aphrodite thing.

His gaze shifted to Percy and Annabeth.

Percy was smiling, his arm swung around Annabeth. He had smile lines around his mouth and his skin had gotten tanner. And he had gotten taller, so had Annabeth whose hair was cut to shoulder length.

Hazel stared at him with wide eyes, her hair the same gold/earthy colour he remembered. She had also gotten taller, as had Frank Zhang. Like that guy needed to get any taller or buffer, but he had. His hair was still cut into a buzz cut. Leo looked at all his friends and felt the knots in his stomach return. His friends were older now, much older. They had their own lives, their own children and jobs and here was Leo, stuck at the age of sixteen.

"Oh, gods Leo. We missed you so much," Hazel sobbed out, and rushed forward to hug him. The others joined in on the hug and Leo hugged them back, his eyes bright with tears. He had missed them all so much as well.

They all pulled back after a while, and Piper smacked him across the head and Leo yelped.

"Ow! What was that for?" Leo glared at her.

"For letting us believe you were dead!" Piper glared back at him, and he faltered. When did her glare get so deadly?

"Look, guys. I'm really sorry. I am. I had just had to save Calypso and someone had to die, I was the best choice," he explained. "I didn't think it'd take so long."

Piper's eyes softened at his explanation and Jason patted his shoulder. It felt odd, because now any of them could easily be his parent. Wow, this was weird. He should probably stop thinking about it.

"We understand Leo. We really do. We're just glad you're back now," Jason told him, and the others nodded.

"So, you brought back Calypso?" Annabeth asked, studying him with those grey eyes that had only gotten more intense over the years. Percy looked uncomfortable beside her at the mention of the Titan.

"Yeah, I did. We kinda crashed into camp with Festus, and she's resting in the infirmary," Leo told them. It then occurred to him he had no idea what had happened to Festus. He turned to Chiron. "Where's Festus?"

"Your dragon is being fixed up by the Hephaestus cabin," Chiron said. "They seemed quite eager."

"Oh," Leo sighed in relief. He was happy his dragon was fine. They had been through so much, and he wasn't going to lose any more friends.

"Chiron, what will happen now?" Piper asked, frowning.

The centaur sighed, "Well, for now it would be best if Leo and Calypso stayed at camp. We have extra rooms in the Big House for Calypso and Leo will have to stay in his cabin."

Leo and the adults shared looks and nodded.

"Seems like the best thing to do," Annabeth nodded.

"Well, it's settled then. Leo, you've had a long journey. I think you should get some rest. Your friends will catch up with you at dinner," Chiron said, and while Leo wanted to talk to his friends more and catch up now, the centaur tone of voice indicated that he didn't want to be argued with. And Leo was still pretty tired. Riding around on a dragon for twenty-five years would do that to a person, he supposed.

"Yeah…yeah. Okay, see you guys later, I guess," Leo waved at his friends left, and as the door closed he saw them all exchange grave looks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! So here is chapter 3! Please be sure to review and tell me what you think!**

**CC is appreciated! Thanks for reading!**

**I do not own PJO**

* * *

><p><strong>PHOENIX CHASE-JACKSON WAS PISSED OFF<strong>

Actually, pissed off would be an understatement of what she felt. She felt so angry she couldn't find any words to express her anger. She glared up at the smirking face of her brother, his grey eyes gleaming with delight.

"You cheated!" she accused as she struggled to her feet, her sword in her hand.

"I did not! How dare you accuse me of such a thing! I'm quite hurt," Luke placed a hand over his heart, but his smirk was still there.

Phoenix glared at him, "You totally cheated! No way could you have beaten me!"

"Well, maybe I'm improving."

"Or maybe you cheated."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Then prove it!" Luke retorted, narrowing his eyes at her.

Phoenix paused, not quite sure how he had cheated but she was sure he had. Or maybe that was just her pride talking.

"Yeah, I thought so. I am the winner," her brother declared proudly, while she huffed in annoyance.

"Good job, bro. You finally won," snickered a new voice.

The source of the voice was a boy with short brown hair, tan skin and kaleidoscopic eyes approached them, laughing. His eyes shifted from green, to blue to brown and to grey. She stared at them for a moment, trying to decide what colour they were before giving up.

Beside him was a girl with shoulder length blonde hair, fair skin, and grey/green eyes, who grinned at Phoenix and Phoenix grinned in return. Her twin sister, Zoe, turned her gaze to Luke and rolled her eyes.

Trailing behind them were two more girls: Marie and Bianca. Marie had dark skin with short black hair and warm brown eyes. She was short, maybe about 5'0. Phoenix had never asked her exactly how tall she was quite sensitive about that topic. Beside her, Bianca, a girl with long dark hair, pale skin and light blue eyes, gave Phoenix a lopsided smile and clutched her sketchbook closer to her side.

"Oh, look Phoenix, we have an audience! People to see me beat you…again," Luke said.

"Oh, stuff it. The only thing they're gonna see is me kick your ass," Phoenix shot back, which earned a laugh from the boy.

"Dude, I'm scared for you," the boy patted Luke on the back, and her brother swatted his hand away.

"You're supposed to be support me, Leo. You know, us guys have to stick together."

This earned another laugh from Leo, and Luke glared at the teen as he pushed him away.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, I'll stop," Leo chuckled as he held up his hands.

"Anyways, if you guys are done fighting, we have more important things to discuss," Zoe announced, as she took the water Phoenix was drinking from. Phoenix made a sound of protest, but her sister ignored it as she took a sip.

"What kind of things?" Bianca asked, raising an eyebrow at Zoe.

"Um, how about the guy who crashed into camp on a dragon? Honestly," the blonde girl rolled her eyes. "Do you guys have no idea who that is?"

The others exchanged looks of confusion before shaking their heads. Zoe sighed dramatically, and tossed the empty water bottle back at Phoenix, who grumbled a sarcastic thanks.

"I sometimes think I'm the only one with brains in this group. He's the guy from the stories our parents told us! You know, the dragon rider? Leo Valdez, the guy our Leo is named after."

"How would you know? They never showed us any pictures of him. Plus, shouldn't he be their age?" Marie asked.

"Ah, except Marie, my dear. I have seen pictures. I went through my parents' old stuff and found pictures-"she was cut short by Luke.

"And you didn't bother showing it to me or Phoenix?" he demanded.

"No," Zoe answered simply before moving on, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I saw pictures and that is the same guy. I don't know how he's still sixteen, but I suppose we'll have to ask him ourselves."

"Ask him ourselves? That'll be a bit weird for him, don't you think? Having his best friends' kids asking him questions," Phoenix said, frowning slightly. She wouldn't feel very comfortable if that ever happened to her. The thought itself was so weird, she immediately dispelled it. She immediately felt sorry for Leo Valdez.

"Hm, no, I don't think so. I mean, he must've knows his friends were going to move on."

"Zoe, you are truly the most sensitive person I have ever met," Leo told her dryly, rolling his eyes. Phoenix smirked. It was true; her sister wasn't the most sensitive person. She was blunt and to the point, and didn't really care about other people's feelings.

"Oh, shut up. Look, I just wanna get to know him. I mean, he must feel so out of it. He can't hang out with like forty-something year olds so he needs new friends, we can be those friends," Zoe explained and Phoenix had to agree. She saw the others nod as well.

"We should wait until dinner, you know, let him rest for a while," Bianca suggested.

"Oh, Bianca, always the considerate one," Luke grinned at her, and she just rolled her eyes at him. Girls did that a lot to Luke.

Phoenix watched her friends banter with each other and smiled. She couldn't imagine being away from them and then coming back to find them all old and with their own lives. Leo Valdez must feel so lost and confused. She sighed, and dug the point of her sword into the ground and stared at it intensely. The dry soil cracked slightly around her sword. She frowned as she remembered her dream from last night.

She should have told her parents, but she didn't want to worry them. Also, she wanted to figure it out for herself what it meant. She closed her eyes for a moment and the darkness only reminded her of the voice. The deep, ancient voice that had threatened her life and had promised her a future of only misery.

"_You will know pain beyond anything your parents ever felt, little hero."_

.

She opened her eyes, and took a deep breath. She didn't need to replay the dream right now. It probably meant nothing; she wasn't a real demigod so these dreams were nothing.

"Oh, you know what, we'll just call you Leo 2.0!" she heard Marie giggle, and Phoenix looked up to Leo glaring at the younger girl. To anyone else, he would have replied with a snarky comment but Marie was the youngest of them at the age of 14. They were all especially nice to her.

"Or we can just refer to him as 'idiot'. He'll probably still respond," Luke snickered, and Leo just pushed his friend.

"Can we stop making fun of me?" He complained and then caught Phoenix's eye and grinned as he looped his arm through hers. "Phoenix! Make them stop!"

Phoenix snorted, "How am I supposed to make them stop?"

"Be your usual mean, bossy self!" he told her, and she glared at him before stepping away from him. What a loser, she scoffed to herself as he pouted at her.

She sometimes wondered where Leo's sense of humour came from. His father didn't make sarcastic quips like him; he was more composed, much more serious. Leo's mom was nicer than he ever could be, and while she did make the occasional sarcastic comment, she wasn't like him. His younger sister, Helen, was more mature than he was.

"Phoenix, I know I'm attractive, but no need to stare at me, "Leo smirked at her, and she flipped him off as Zoe and Luke burst out laughing and Bianca and Marie only sighed and shook their heads.

"Alright, well, this has been fun. But I'm gonna go now. I have stuff to do," Bianca told them as she backed away, clutching her sketchbook to her chest. She always had it with her now, Phoenix noted. She wondered why.

"I'll come with you and help you with…that stuff," the blonde said. She really had no intent on helping with anything, she just wanted to get away from the idiots she called friends.

Leo snorted, "Yeah, that doesn't sound like you're trying to get away from us. Not at all."

"Whatever, Grace," Phoenix scoffed, as she sheathed her sword and caught up with Bianca. The younger girl smiled at the blonde as they began to walk together.

"So, is your dad back yet?" Phoenix asked, after a long pause.

Bianca shook her head and played with the plastic rings on her sketchbook. "No, he's been gone a long time. My other dad's starting to get worried. He never stays in the Underworld that long."

Phoenix had always wondered what it would be like to have two dads. It would be cool, but it seemed confusing. Bianca always had to refer to one as dad, and the second on as the 'other dad'. And her dad, Nico di Angelo, had gone to the Underworld to help his father with business, which wasn't something out of the ordinary. But it had been almost three weeks since he had left and now Bianca and her other dad, Will Solace, were beginning to worry.

She could understand why. The Underworld wasn't a very pleasant place, but Uncle Nico was the child of Hades. He should be fine there…probably.

"Maybe something came up and he had to stay longer. I wouldn't worry, I mean, your dad's a powerful demigod. He can handle himself," Phoenix told Bianca.

"Yeah…I know…but I've been having these dreams and-," Bianca stopped abruptly, as if realizing she shouldn't have said that.

"What kind of dreams? Bianca?" Phoenix turned to her friend, an eyebrow raised.

Bianca swallowed and shook her head, "Nothing, I mean, it was just a bad dream but I don't have an ounce of demigod blood in me, remember? It probably meant nothing," she waved it off but Phoenix frowned.

"Still, Bianca, if you have any weird dreams…"

"Trust me, its fine, okay?" the younger girl snapped, clutching her notebook to her chest tighter.

Phoenix's eyebrows rose up at the tone of her voice. Bianca rarely ever snapped at her like that. She was a sweet girl, so this dream must really be bothering her. She wondered if Bianca had had the same dream as her.

Bianca also seemed to realize how harsh her tone was and sighed, and shook her head. "Just, leave it okay? It was nothing. I-I have to go and do some stuff…um….see ya." She waved at Phoenix and started towards the Hades cabin.

"Yeah, stuff to do," Phoenix muttered, watching Bianca walk away. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She was sure Bianca's dreams held more meaning than what the girl had let on. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair and looked up at the sky and silently asked her grandmother, Athena, for wisdom.

She had a sinking feeling that she would need as much wisdom as possible in the coming days.

* * *

><p><strong>So these are the families:<strong>

**Percy and Annabeth: Luke Damasen Jackson (17), Phoenix and Zoe Chase Jackson (16)**

**Jason and Piper: Leo Grace (17), Helen Grace (11)**

**Hazel and Frank: Marie Zhang (14), Emily Zhang (11)**

**Nico and Will: Bianca Solace di Angelo (15) (adopted)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thanks for all your support! I really appreciate all the reviews, follows and favorites! **

**I just wanted to let you guys know that I don't really have an updating schedule. I try to update every week, but sometimes I'm really busy so I might not get to. **

**Anyways, thanks again! Please review! CC is appreciated!**

* * *

><p><strong>DINNERS AT CAMP-HALF BLOOD <strong>were always exciting.

In Leo Grace's opinion they were. Things often exploded, or fights broke out and the occasional curse was cast. The Ares or Apollo cabins were behind most of these. You would think that the Apollo cabin would be better behaved, but those kids weren't all smiles and sunshine. But it was awesome anyways, even though Leo had been the victim of a rhyming curse by a son of Apollo last year. He shuddered just thinking about it. Phoenix and Luke had taken great joy in his suffering, though.

He sighed and shook his head as he continued to the pavilion. He stepped over the sealed fissure in the marble floor, remembering the story Percy had told him about how it had happened. Nico used to be an angry kid, apparently. Leo made his way to Zeus's table and sat down. He had hoped that Helen would join him, but she had chosen to sit with the Aphrodite kids. She chooses to spend her first dinner at Camp Half Blood with the Aphrodite kids…how sad.

He tapped his fingers on the table, scanning the faces of the many campers for his friends. Where were they? His dinner appeared in front of him, and he stood up with the rest of the campers and then proceeded to one of the bronze braziers and threw a portion of his food in there for his godly grandparent: Zeus and Aphrodite. He often thought about how odd of a combination that was; he was descended from the king of the gods and the goddess of love.

He then spotted Luke, Zoe and Phoenix, laughing as they made their way to the Poseidon table. He joined them at their table, ignoring the odd looks he got. "So, what's the plan?"

The three siblings looked up at him, and raised an eyebrow at him in unison. That was really creepy, Leo decided.

"You know, how are we going to approach Valdez?" Leo had decided to refer to the other Leo as Valdez; it was a lot less confusing than thinking of him as Leo as well.

"How about we just go to him?" Bianca suggested as she slid in next to Phoenix, followed by Marie. Phoenix shot Bianca an odd look which the younger girl ignored and Leo wondered what that was about. He then followed Bianca's gaze to the Hephaestus table where a scrawny boy with curly brown hair sat, separated from the other Hephaestus kids. The boy kept looking up from his dinner, as if looking for someone.

"Well, that's better than the plan I had," Zoe shrugged.

"You had no plan, did you?" Marie asked, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"Nope," Zoe answered, popping the 'p'.

"Well, if that's the plan, we should probably go over then?" Phoenix stated, standing up. Leo and the others followed suit and walked to the Hephaestus table, ignoring the stares they got. They were all descendants; the rules of sitting at their proper tables didn't really apply to them as much. It didn't apply at all to Bianca.

Leo flashed Valdez a grin as he plopped down beside Luke, and Phoenix sat down next to Leo. Marie, Bianca and Zoe sat across from the boy, who gave them all confused looks.

"Before you ask, I'm not Percy," Luke was the first one to speak, smirking slightly at Valdez.

"Yeah, I figured that out," Valdez frowned, and then looked over each and every one of them. "Uh, well, this is kinda awkward." He shifted slightly, tapping his fingers against his thigh.

"It's only awkward if you make it awkward, man," Leo told him, and the corner of Valdez's mouth pulled up slightly.

"Anyways, I'm Zoe," Zoe charged ahead, and pointed to each person as she introduced them "That's my brother Luke, and my twin sister Phoenix. That's Marie, and that's Bianca and that's Leo."

Valdez's eyes snapped to Leo immediately as his name was said, and his eyes widened slightly. "Your name is Leo?"

"Yeah, my parents were huge fans of yours," Leo said, scratching the back of his neck. Well, now it was awkward. Valdez was looking at him with wide eyes as if he couldn't believe Leo's existence.

"Anyways, we just wanted to welcome you back. Show you around, cause a few things have changed around here. You know, be your friends," Zoe told Valdez.

Valdez blinked at her, and then frowned, "I have friends."

"Our forty year old parents don't count as friends. You obviously can't hang out with them anymore."

Valdez paused, and then sighed and shook his head. "This is really weird, just so you guys know."

"Hanging out with your old best friends kids because you missed the last twenty five years isn't weird. It's like the newest trend," Phoenix smiled dryly.

Valdez looked up and tried for a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. This guy was nothing like what his parents had described him as. Leo tried not to feel disappointed, but this was the guy he was named after and he didn't look like anything special. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but this wasn't it. Leo's parents had always praised Valdez, talking about how brave he was and his sense of humour and ability to crack jokes even at the most stressful of times. What he saw in front of him was a guy who was awkward, and didn't quite know what to do.

Leo guessed he couldn't blame Valdez. Leo hadn't spent the last twenty five years on a dragon's back with no knowledge of how long he had been gone. He hadn't come back to find all his friends grown and with their own families.

Valdez tapped his foot, and Leo noticed that the guy also couldn't stay still for more than a few seconds. Valdez had taken out some wires and was playing around with them, frowning as he did. This kid had some serious ADHD.

Valdez's shoulders sagged slightly as he looked up from the wires, and his eyes swept over all of them. His eyes were clouded over, as if he was remembering something. "Yeah, okay. I guess you guys are my new bff's. No backing out allowed now okay? You're stuck with me," he smirked slightly at them.

They all smiled in return, and then Marie leaned forward slightly. "Well, since we're bff's, you'll hang out with us tomorrow then? Before our activities start?"

"Yeah, sure. You guys wouldn't mind if Calypso joined, right?"

"Is that the girl who was with you?" Bianca asked

"Yeah," Valdez nodded.

"Wait, is she the actual Calypso?" Phoenix asked her green eyes bright. "Like, the titan?"

"Yeah, the one and only," Valdez seemed proud of that, but Leo didn't see what the big deal was.

"What's so special about her?" He made the mistake of asking that, and Phoenix shot him a disbelieving look.

"You don't know the myth of Calypso?"

"Well, obviously not," Leo rolled his eyes.

"She was cursed to stay on this island, Ogygia, forever after she supported her father in the first Titan War," Phoenix explained, "But that wasn't even the worst part, heroes often landed on her island, heroes who she always fell in love with but these heroes were never fated to stay with her and always left her."

"Why didn't they just go back for her, or something?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"_Because, _no man was able to fine Ogygia twice, but somehow…you managed it," Phoenix then turned to Valdez, her head tilted slightly to the side.

Valdez shrugged, "It's complicated."

"Well, however you did it….it's still pretty impressive."

"So, where is Calypso?" Luke asked.

"Oh, she's talking to some nature spirits or something. She's…just enjoying being away from Ogygia," Valdez answered.

"That must've sucked, being stuck on an island for like 3,000 years or something," Leo said, trying to imagine himself in Calypso's position. He would have gone insane.

"Uh, guys…" Bianca spoke up, interrupting Leo's train of thought. "We're getting weird looks," and she was right. Everyone kept stealing glances towards them, and even Chiron was frowning slightly at them. Leo guessed they had bent the rules as far as they could, for now.

They all stood up, and Marie smiled at Leo, "It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, you guys too, "Valdez replied, returning her smiled. "You guys seem pretty cool."

"Well, obviously, we are. What did you expect?" Luke smirked, and Valdez just rolled his eyes.

"How are you Annabeth and Percy's kid?"

"Nobody knows, really. I sometimes doubt he really is related to me, "Zoe sighed dramatically, and Luke shot her a glare.

"Anyways," Bianca interrupted, before a fight could break out between the two siblings, "Capture the flag is tomorrow."

"Oh, that's great," Valdez said, but he didn't sound too excited about it. Leo loved Capture the Flag, it was violent and all, but it was fun.

"Yeah, so we'll see you later, then," Phoenix told him, and Valdez nodded.

"Well, that wasn't a total failure," Marie said quietly, as soon as they walked away from the Hephaestus table.

"He seems okay," Phoenix nodded.

"Yeah, he seems pretty normal. Nothing like our Leo, so we should be fine," Luke snickered, and Leo just rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Is today like insult Leo Grace Day? Seriously," Leo sighed, shaking his head.

"Can you two stop? You're acting like five year olds," Phoenix told them, frowning at the two boys.

Leo and Luke stuck their tongue out at her, and she rolled her eyes as she muttered something under her breath. Leo didn't bother asking what it was; it was probably offensive to him. It usually always was.

Leo continued his way to the Zeus table. Luke and Zoe went to Poseidon table, while Phoenix sat at the Athena table. Bianca sat down with Marie at the Hades table, and the two launched into a conversation. Leo realized he was the only one sitting alone at his table, and debated wether or not he should go to the Aphrodite table. He glanced back, and then shook his head. No, he'd rather sit alone than sit with those girls. They scared him.

He looked back towards the Hephaestus table, where a girl was now sitting beside Valdez, smiling as he talked to her. He looked really at ease with her. Leo turned back around and stared down at his dinner. He had a feeling that tomorrow would be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry for the late update but I tried to make this chapter longer than my other chapters. **

**Hope you enjoy! And please review!**

**All the other reviews, favourites and follows are greatly appreciated!**

**I don't own PJO, unfortunately.**

* * *

><p><strong>LEO VALDEZ DREAMED <strong>that he was back on the Argo II

His friends sat in the mess hall, talking and laughing as they ate breakfast. Buford the table wheeled itself up and down the table, no doubt patrolling the teens like he used after Coach Hedge left. Occasionally he would shout odd phrases like, "PUT SOME CLOTHES ON" or "GIVE ME TEN", making the other jump or roll their eyes. Leo stayed glued to the spot, watching his friends with wide eyes. It seemed so normal that it made dream Leo's heart ache, because he knew this wasn't real. His friends were adults now, they weren't still teenagers.

Dream Piper poked dream Jason in the ribs at something he had said before spotting Leo and waved him over. The son of Hephaestus blinked at her, before taking slow steps towards the table. The others had taken notice of him now, and smiled at him.

He was only a few steps away from the table when suddenly his friends started falling over, like puppets whose strings had been cut. Leo gasped and stepped back and watched in horror as their skin turned gray and they began to…crack? They were cracking apart, he realized, crumbling into dust right in front of his eyes.

He shook as he took another step back, and suddenly the dream changed. He was no longer on the Argo II. He actually had no idea where he was. It was dark, and he could hear water dripping from somewhere. Something crawled over his feet and Leo jumped back. He stumbled back, pebbles digging into his feet as he pressed his hands against the rocky walls for support. He exhaled deeply, and raised his hand and tried to get some light but nothing happened. His fire didn't work here.

Leo walked forward, using the wall as his guide, hoping that he would find an exit. As he walked, a faint pulsing light began to pierce the darkness around him. But the light didn't give him comfort, instead a sense of dread overwhelmed him and he tried to turn back but now his feet were moving on their own.

As he got closer to the light, he began to hear voices. He dug his heels into the ground, trying to stop but it didn't work and his feet kept marching on.

Leo abruptly stopped, a few feet away from the light, which seemed to be coming from a crater and a lone figure that stood in front of the crater. He could tell the figure was a female, that much was clear, but she wasn't facing him.

"_Was the extraction successful?" _the voice came from the light, and it made Leo shiver. It was heavy and ancient, laced with an odd accent. The voice was sinister, but also sounded like the speaker was in pain. The words were spoken slowly, with an edge to them, and the light flickered when the voice spoke, as if it took a lot of energy.

The girl bowed her head slightly, "Yes, my lord. The two items you requested are being transported here, as we speak."

"_Excellent. You have done well," _the voice said, and even though Leo couldn't see the girl's face he knew she was smirking smugly.

"_Soon, I will have the power I need. And then, I will rise and destroy these gods that think they are so mighty," _the voice continued.

"Of course, my lord," the girl bowed her head again. A few moments passed and the voice stayed quiet. Leo pressed himself closer to the wall, hoping that the voice would not return.

"_Ah, Leo Valdez. How nice of you to join us," _the voice rumbled, and the girl tensed but didn't turn around. Leo stayed where he was, even though he wanted to run, but he was frozen with fear.

"_You are quite the hero, Leo Valdez. I should thank you, I suppose, for bringing down Gaea. But you are an obstacle in my way, and all obstacles must be destroyed." _

The floor fell away from underneath Leo, and he was falling. He flailed around, his eyes wide and his mouth open but no sound came out. He just kept falling, the wind stinging his eyes and his stomach churning.

"_You thought Gaea caused you great pain and misery? I promise you much more than that, little hero!" _the voice laughed and Leo awoke with a loud gasp, his hands curling into fists beside him.

He looked around, his eyes wide and his body shaking with fear. He relaxed slightly when he realized he was still in the Hephaestus cabin but his hands wouldn't stop shaking. That dream…gods, he hadn't had a demigod dream in so long. He had forgotten how bad they were.

More importantly, what did that dream mean? Demigod dreams always meant something. But then…what if this wasn't a demigod dream and just a nightmare? He sighed and closed his eyes. He would have to tell Chiron about it tomorrow, after he met up with his new 'friends'.

He rubbed his eyes and layed back down. Leo stared up at the bed that was above his, and sometime during the night he fell back into a fitful sleep.

* * *

><p>Leo frowned as he tied his shoes, thinking back to the dream he had had last night. He hadn't talked to anyone about it yet, but the other kids in his cabin kept giving him odd looks. They had probably heard him last night, but had chosen not to say anything, which Leo did appreciate. He stood up and nodded at the senior counsellor, Jacob, as he headed out.<p>

The cabin had wanted to make him counsellor again, but he had refused. He didn't want to take the position from Jacob, who seemed like a cool guy.

Leo kicked at the dirt as he walked, looking around the camp. It still seemed odd to be back, it seemed as if he had never left but that wasn't true. Only a few campers were out of their cabin this early, most of them counsellors. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, when he heard someone call his name.

"Leo!"

He looked back, and grinned when he saw Calypso waving at him as she walked towards him. She was dressed in a Camp-Half Blood t-shirt and jeans, with her hair tied back into a ponytail but she looked gorgeous. She managed to look flawless without even trying, while Leo's hair was sticking up in odd directions and he then noticed his shirt was on inside out.

Wow, she was so out of his league.

Calypso quirked an eyebrow at him as she got closer, her gaze shifting to his hair and then to his shirt. Leo shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

"You do realize your shirt is inside out," she told him as she stopped in front of him, her arms crossed.

"Of course I do sunshine. It's the newest trend," he responded.

"I don't see anyone else wearing their shirt inside out."

"It'll catch on soon enough, don't worry," Leo nudged her lightly with his elbow.

"I'm sure it will," she laughed, and Leo's heart skipped a beat. He loved her laugh.

Calypso looped her arm through his and intertwined their fingers. Leo stared at their hands as they began to walk.

"Everyone here is so kind. I didn't know what to expect…but this is wonderful!" she gushed; her smile widening and Leo returned her smile, which was impossible not to do. Her smiles were contagious.

"Yeah, I told you would like it here. Aren't I always right?"

Calypso scoffed, "Yeah, okay, Valdez."

"Oh, please, stop denying the truth."

Calypso scoffed again, and rolled her eyes, obviously teasing him. She shifted her gaze from him to the lake, "Isn't that Bianca?"

Leo followed her gaze to the lone figure sitting by the shore of the lake, feet folded underneath and a sketch book propped open in her lap. He was surprised that Calypso remembered what Bianca looked like, since he had only pointed her and the others out during the campfire.

"Yeah, it is."

"Well, weren't you supposed to meet her and her friends?"

"Yeah, I was, but I don't see the others," Leo said, frowning slightly as Calypso led them over to the girl.

"I'm sure they'll show up. You should go join Bianca until they get here," she told him.

Bianca looked up her sketch book as they neared her, and smiled as she set her pencil down and closed her sketch book.

Leo had wondered how this girl was Nico's daughter, even if she was adopted. And then he had learned that she was also Will Solace's daughter, and then it somewhat fell into place. That guy was way too nice, how he and Nico had ended up together confused Leo.

"Hey Leo! I'm guessing you're Calypso?"

Calypso nodded and returned Bianca's smile, while Leo muttered a quick hello. He still thought this was really weird, hanging out with his friends' kids that is.

Calypso pulled him down so they were sitting beside Bianca, and he watched as she and Calypso launched into a conversation as if they were old friends. His gaze fell to Bianca's open sketchbook, tilting his head so that he could see the picture better. It was a pretty rough sketch.

"I see you like to draw," Calypso noted, making Leo look up from the sketch book. Bianca flushed slightly, hastily closing the book.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a few sketches, you know something to pass the time."

Leo scratched the back of his neck as they fell into an awkward silence before clearing his throat, "So, um, where are the others?"

Bianca tilted her head slightly, "I don't know," she admitted. "They'll be here though. Marie was getting ready when I left the cabin."

"Marie…she's Frank and Hazel's kid, right?"

"Mhm, she has a younger sister, who's spending the summer at Camp Jupiter. She's more…uh 'roman' than Marie."

"Huh," was Leo's only response. He still wasn't used to this, the fact that his friends had children. That Frank and Hazel had children. Or Percy and Annabeth, or Jason and Piper. He still imagined them as teenagers until it would hit him that they weren't. Of course, he had only been here a day. He would get used to it. Hopefully.

Bianca was still talking and he snapped his attention back to her. "-one of the praetors is here, too. He's here to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the two camps being at peace with each other."

She glanced at Leo, who shifted slightly, "Right, so August 8th? That's like, in a week?"

"Yeah, everyone's pretty excited. It's always fun, having both camps together," Bianca nodded and Calypso leaned forward slightly.

"Twenty five years of peace? That's quite impressive," the Titan said.

"Don't jinx it," Bianca said dryly, "A fight breaking out between the camps would be horrible."

Leo nodded, understanding what she meant. "Who're the praetors now? Did Reyna even retire?"

Bianca nodded, "Yeah, she retired. I guess. She hasn't changed much though. The two praetors now are Indira, daughter of Mars and Kevin, son of Mercury."

"Well, that's an odd combination," Calypso remarked, and Leo had to agree. He had a hard time imagine a son of Mercury as a praetor. No son of Hermes could ever be a praetor. Maybe Mercury's kids were different.

"But, what did you mean by Reyna not changing?" Leo asked, remembering what Bianca had said.

"Oh, she joined the Hunters of Artemis. She retired a few years after the war, and joined the group," Bianca explained.

"Oh…wow. I didn't expect that from her," Leo frowned.

"From what my dad told me, she wanted to live life to the fullest. She could have joined the Amazons, but her sister was Queen. Who would want that?"

"No one, that's who," a new voice chimed as Marie joined them, her curly hair pulled back into a ponytail. She smiled at Leo and Calypso.

"Sorry I'm late," she told them, and Leo just shrugged while Calypso flashed the young girl a smile.

"No worries," Bianca told her friend, "Where are Zoe, Phoenix, Luke and Leo? Uh, the other Leo," she shot a glance towards the Son of Hephaestus.

"No idea. I thought they would already be here," Marie looked around, as if expecting them to pop out at any moment.

"They probably got into some kind of trouble," Bianca sighed.

"I think you mean that Leo or Luke got them in trouble," Marie corrected and the two girls laughed.

Leo scooted a bit closer to Calypso, because he felt odd all of a sudden. As if he was intruding, which he guessed he was. These weren't his friends. They were already good friends with each other; they were only hanging out with Leo out of some weird sort of obligation. He sighed, and Calypso must have guessed how he was feeling because she reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Leo smiled slightly at her.

"You should try to make more conversation," she told him, "I know this must hard for you, but you have to try. You do need to make more friends."

"Please, I have friends," Leo scoffed. "You know, they're old and stuff, but they're still my friends."

Calypso's eyes softened, "Leo-"

She didn't get to finish because at that moment Phoenix, Zoe, Luke and Leo. G came running towards them. Leo still wasn't over the fact that Jason and Piper had named their son after him. It was pretty shocking, but he also felt pretty honoured. Of course it was also very confusing.

Marie and Bianca looked up at their friends as they stopped, breathing heavily. Luke had a few scratches covering his face, but he was grinning. Phoenix and Zoe were fine, and Grace had a nasty bruise forming right under his eye.

Marie frowned at them, "What happened to you guys?"

"These two," Phoenix glared at Luke and Grace, who shrugged sheepishly, "Managed to piss off some of the Ares kids."

"Hey, it wasn't our fault! They're just too sensitive," Luke scoffed as he sat down.

"I swear, one day the two of you will kill yourselves with those mouths of yours," Bianca said, but Leo could tell she trying hard not to smile.

"Yeah, whatever, but they were the ones who started it," Grace said, rolling his eyes as he sat down beside Luke.

"It's never your fault, right?" Zoe asked dryly, and Grace and Luke beamed.

"Exactly. It's never our fault. Glad you understand, Zoe," Luke patted his sister on the shoulder.

"Losers," the blonde scoffed.

"Sorry for missing bonding time, though. We were saving those two." Phoenix said, looking towards Leo and Calypso.

"Ah, no problem. Leo and Luke obviously wouldn't be here if you two weren't there," Leo piped up, and the twins laughed.

"I like him," Zoe announced and Phoenix nodded in agreement as Leo shifted, smiling slightly.

"The Ares cabin won't be holding back tonight at Capture the Flag," Bianca told Luke and Grace, who just shrugged.

"Like we care. We can take them, no matter what. By the way Leo, you're with us tonight. We're the ones who got the flag last time," Grace explained, and he looked proud as he said that. No doubt he had retrieved the flag last time.

"Don't get too cocky, Grace," Luke rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please Jackson. You're just upset your team lost last time and that you have to work with Ares again."

Luke narrowed his eyes at his friend but didn't argue, instead just huffed and turned away while Grace smirked.

Zoe rolled her eyes and looked down at her watch, "Morning activities start in like an hour or so. Luke, we'd better not be late again. Chiron won't like it if we're late to archery again."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't even get that, the old horse should be happy if we're late or don't show up. We're horrible at archery," Luke grumbled.

"Just like Percy, then. He tried practicing with Frank's bow and arrows and almost took out my eye," Leo said, grinning at the memory as the other burst out laughing.

For the next hour, they talked about aimless subjects, like explaining to Leo and Calypso how technology had changed, or more about themselves. How Luke had this ridiculous crush on Julianne, the Demeter senior counsellor. Luke completely denied the crush, but the others just laughed at him. Leo told them a little more about his time on the Argo II and for a moment he forgot about his nightmare, and his feelings of being out of place.

"We should actually really get going now," Phoenix said, after Luke had tried to explain, for like the 10th time, how he did not have a crush on Julianne.

"Oh, yeah we probably should," Bianca nodded, and then Leo noticed that more campers were out now. They were probably returning from breakfast, and were now on their ways to their morning activities.

The group stood up, and exchanged good-byes. Phoenix and Calypso, who had formed a quick friendship decided to walk together to the arena. No doubt Phoenix would be asking her all kinds of questions about what it was like on Ogygia, or what Calypso remembered of the first Titan War. Leo rolled his eyes. She was so much like Annabeth, except nicer. She was a lot nicer, and less scary.

Leo was supposed to join the Hephaestus cabin for some work in the forges, which he was looking forward to. He looked down at the ground, and frowned when he saw Bianca's sketchbook lying on the grass. Leo bent down and picked up the book. He flipped it open to a random page, and frowned deeply.

The picture sent a spark down Leo's spine because he recognized what he seeing. It was the Argo II, every detail captured perfectly. He doubted even a picture could be able to spot that much detail. It seemed as if Bianca had seen it in real life…but the ship was destroyed.

"Weird," Leo muttered and flipped the page. None of the drawings after that made much sense to him. The rest were only rough sketches, drawn in a hurry. He sighed and shut the book, feeling as if he had invaded Bianca's privacy. But he couldn't help but wonder how Bianca had drawn the Argo II, or what the other sketches meant.

Leo supposed he would have to find out himself.


End file.
